[Request] Overturn the Ban of Bail Organa

[Petitioner] Bail Organa

[Background] Bail Organa is a veteran legislator and a leading member of the Blue Party, a group that is widely seen as the primary opposition to the government of Prime Minister Sheev Palpatine, the highly popular leader who led the Coalition to victory in an interregional war and is currently serving his fifth consecutive term in office.

On March 20 Prime Minister Palpatine posted a thread in the Assembly where he announced the dissolution of the Coalition and introduced a Charter amendment to merge the office of Prime Minister into the office of Delegate, with the latter having an indefinite term in office. The bill was criticised by several legislators, even some who usually stood by Palpatine, but it is still expected to narrowly pass once brought to a vote.

That same day Bail Organa filed a treason charge against Palpatine, arguing that what the Prime Minister had done constituted "plotting against the Coalition". While the High Court considered the case, Organa took to the Regional Message Board (RMB) to campaign against Palpatine's amendment.

On March 21 Organa was warned by the Local Council for violating the RMB Moderation Act. Organa dismissed the warning and continued his campaign, arguing that he would not be silenced. On March 22 Organa was ejected and banned from the region for repeated violations of the RMB Moderation Act. That same day Organa filed a review request before the High Court, seeking to have his ban overturned on the grounds that there was no legitimate cause to have him banned.

[Bail Organa's Submission] Your Honours,

I come before you to request that you conduct a review of the ban that was ordered and imposed on me by the Local Council on the alleged grounds that I had violated Article 2, Section 3, Sub-Section B of the RMB Moderation Act. I am here to contend not only that I did not at all violate the law, but also that the law itself runs afoul of Article III of the Charter.

Article 2, Section 3, Sub-Section B of the RMB Moderation Act was initially meant to allow the Local Council to eject nations whose posting caused excessive and unreasonable disturbances, basically to allow it to eject spammers and trolls. I posted on the RMB to campaign against Prime Minister Palpatine's attempt to dissolve the Coalition and appoint himself as Delegate with an indefinite term. I exercised my right to free speech and to engage in legitimate political speech, and as a result I prompted the gameside community to engage in a spirited debate regarding the actions and intentions of the current government. I caused no disturbance.

In spite of the above, I would go even further. Even if one were to grant the Local Council's argument that I engaged in an excessive disturbance, I would argue that Article 2, Section 3, Sub-Section B of the RMB Moderation Act is too broad and runs afoul of Article III of the Charter by unreasonably restricting the right to free speech. Article III says that the right to free speech may be limited only by "reasonable moderation policies". I contend that there is nothing reasonable about a law that would allow the government to ban its political opponents under the guise of "excessive disturbances" when all they have done is promote civil debates that just happen to be contrary to what the government wants.

I respectfully ask that you find that my ejection and ban is unjustified either on its own or on account of the underlying law being contrary to the Charter, and that you instruct the Local Council to remove my nation from the ban list.

[Local Council's Response] Your Honours,

Bail Organa was definitely engaging in behaviour no different to that of a spammer and a troll. His initial posts were civil, but by the end of March 21 he was warned because he had riled up the RMB and many posters were calling Prime Minister Palpatine a dictator and talking of overthrowing the government. The discussion had crossed into dangerous ground and we had every right to eject the main perpetrator.

We argue that Bail Organa had every right to criticise the government, but not to rile up the gameside community as he did with his biases and half-truths. His conduct was that of a troll and we had the duty to apply the RMB Moderation Act just as we would with any other nation that was engaging in a similar conduct.

[Evidence] Article 2, Section, Sub-Section B of the RMB Moderation Act

2. Ejections and Bans

(2) A nation may be ejected and/or banned from the region for:

(...)

b. Causing excessive and unreasonable disturbances on the Regional Message Board.